A common claim among fundamentalist Christians is that their God does not give out rewards based on good works. According to this popular theological stance, meaningful justification of people in the eyes of God does not really involve doing good deeds based on the moral authority of God's law.

Claims like this center around St. Paul, whose theological whims preferred a deconstruction of the law of God in favor of promoting a new system which is based on faith in a human sacrifice. Paul wanted people to believe that they didn't have to keep God's law. Paul told people that under the "new" system they are no longer required to do the work of obeying God's law. According to Paul, now that faith in a human sacrifice had come, people were no longer required by God to obey the laws he gave to them.

Gal 3:23-25
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Paul wanted to gain followers to his new religion and his Gentile audiences had little interest in keeping all of the complicated laws laid down by the God of the Old Testament. God's law on circumcision, dietary restrictions, keeping the Sabbath, and a host of other laws stood in the way of gaining converts to Paul's religion.

Paul had no qualms about accommodating his desire to circumvent the law and declared the law obsolete in several other verses which include Gal 5:18, Rom 10:4, Eph 2:15, and Col 2:14.

Contrary to Paul's new doctrine that the law was ended by a human sacrifice, the Bible states that God's law is eternal.

Psa 111:7-8
The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure.
They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.

The Old Testament law of God was Paul's competition and he had no problem dismissing it as irrelevant to the process of salvation.

Gal 2:16
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Rom 3:20
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

It's worth noting that Paul's claim contradicts God's proclamation in the Old Testament, which states that doing the works of the law is the way to righteousness in his eyes.

Psa 119:1-5
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!

As Psa 119:1-5 clearly states, a person is justified/blessed when he does the works of the law. By definition, those who perform the works of the law (which means keeping the law) do no iniquity and are blessed by God.

Also contradicting Paul's claim that a man is not justified by the law, are the following words of God.

Ezek 18:21,27
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

As these verses clearly show, keeping all of God's laws (i.e. doing what is lawful and right) will produce salvation for a soul. There is no mention or need to believe in a human sacrifice called "Jesus" in order to be justified. Even the New Testament contradicts Paul's claim that no person could be justified or be made righteous by obeying the law.

Luke 1:5-6
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

It is indeed ironic that so many fundamentalist Christians love to quote Paul when they preach. God told his followers to beware of men like Paul who tried to make people stray from his laws.

Paul stressed that the law was obsolete and of little importance, which puts him and every Christian who promotes his apostasy into a very unflattering category. God told his people to avoid men like Paul and in fact classifies such people as "evildoers".

Psa 119:115
Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.

Paul's version of justification also contradicts Jesus who gave clear instructions concerning the importance of keeping God's law.

Matt 5:19-20 (Jesus speaking)
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments (the laws of God), and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

If Jesus is to be taken seriously then Paul's proclamation that no man is justified by the works of the law is not accurate. According to Jesus, those (like Paul) who teach that following the law provide no justification, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven and in fact, may not even enter into it at all.

However, the seductive lure of Paul's teaching is that a Christian doesn't have to be "burdened" with performing all the hard work of actually following the laws God laid down for his people in the Bible. Christians feel they can take the short cut to salvation by adopting Paul's version of what is required of them instead of doing what God instructed. Many Christians will often chirp that personal deeds are of little value to their God. Christians such as these have adopted the doctrine of Paul, ignoring the fact that Paul contradicted God.

An excellent example of this claim can be observed in the following Christian assertions, which were made to skeptics on an internet forum.

Christian states:
Christianity is not a performance-based system of thought, as if personal achievements are the key to gaining favor with God.

Commentary:
In a strict sense Christianity is performance based as it requires belief in a human sacrifice to "save" you. You must perform the act of confessing Jesus your Lord as part of the salvation ritual.

If belief in Jesus really saves you, then you must take an affirmative action (i.e. perform the required act) to be saved. According to Christianity, failure to perform the required work of belief results in damnation (Mark 16:16).

The following questions can be raised regarding the issue of how important doing good works really is in gaining favor with God.

Is the performance of good works a key element according to God?
Is following the law a personal achievement?
Is following the law also important to God?

According to Jesus it was. Jesus instructed people to keep the law as individuals.

Matt 5:19-20 (Jesus speaking)
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments (the laws of God), and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Contrary to the Christian's claim, the personal deed of following the law results in a person being called great in the kingdom of heaven. Clearly, you do gain favor with God if you obey his laws and this certainly qualifies as a key element of salvation. Heaven appears to have a hierarchy system.

The Old Testament shows that God judges according to the deeds a person does.

Jer 17:10
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

As demonstrated earlier in Psa 119:1-5, the Lord God rewards and blesses those who perform according to his standards which are defined by his eternal law. This is also illustrated in the following verses:

Psa 18:20
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

Psa 31:23
O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.

As Psa 31:23 states, doers get rewarded.

Prov 13:13
Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

As Prov 13:13 states, God requires performance and that means keeping his laws and obtaining righteousness as a reward in return.

Even the New Testament states that people will be judged according to their works. Works are performance based actions and they do play a part in gaining the favor of God.

Rev 20:12-13
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Christian states:
The performance of good works does not get us anywhere with God (though one would think it would improve the lot of others, and mature one's character, and that one would gain insight, all of which are commendable goals in and of themselves).

Commentary:
Note that the Christian claim here is that while good works may be beneficial to the individual, they do not get you anywhere with God. This particular Christian assertion, that performing good works will not get you anywhere with God, is contradicted by Scripture.

As shown earlier, doing the good work of keeping the law does get you somewhere with God. Further scriptural evidence that good works get you somewhere with God is clearly expressed in the following:

James 2:24
Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

If James 2:24 is accurate, works play a critical role in justifying a man in God's eyes. Faith alone doesn't do it. The Christian claim that good works don't get you anywhere with God is also not in agreement with what Jesus taught to his disciples.

Matt 16:27 (Jesus speaking)
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Rev 22:12
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Jesus stated that rewards were to be given according to each man's works. Obviously doing good works must get you somewhere with God otherwise the statement of Jesus is superficial and empty.

Christian states:
God made us to do good. We don't get bonus points for doing good; when we do good, we're just doing our job. If we behave perfectly from cradle to grave, we have completed our job. If we don't, there's no way to compensate for our shortcomings.

Commentary:
If no bonus points are awarded for doing good then Jesus was not truthful. Jesus claimed that every man would be rewarded according to his works.

Matt 16:27 (Jesus speaking)
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Perhaps this Christian would like to rewrite Matt 16:27 to make it conform with what he wants to believe. This would render Matt 16:27 to mean the following:

Matt 16:27 (Jesus speaking)
For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; but don't expect bonus points to be rewarded unto any of you according to your works.

Rewriting the Bible or ignoring any scripture that gets in the way of preferred doctrine is a favorite pastime of many Christians. This frequently displayed habit is evidence that the Bible will end up meaning whatever a believer wants it to mean. The often trumpeted moral authority of the Bible is in actuality not from a "God" at all, but instead rests firmly on the theological whims of it's advocates.

Believers advertise their version of God and his requirements to the world and then claim God agrees with them. Dear God, Hear our prayer of praise unto you, the one true God. We thank you for being the version of yourself that is worshipped by us at our local church.

Christian states:
The only way to get out of our moral debt to God is to have someone else pay it. That's where Jesus comes in.

Commentary:
This is a flatly false statement if a person takes the Bible seriously. Jesus is not the only way to get out of moral debt to God. According to the alleged word of God as represented by the Holy Bible, each person will die for their own sin and will redeem themselves through performance of proper deeds. It's always interesting to observe a Christian ignoring what God told his people.

Ezek 18:20-21,27
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

This Christian seems to want to get out of doing the hard moral work of actually following God's law and has instead adopted the appealing doctrine of simple belief in a human sacrifice in order to get out of debt with God.

Christian states:
As Titus 3:4-6 says,
"When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior."

Commentary:
According to most Christians, the scripture in Titus was written by Paul. This is the very same Paul who declared that obedience to God's law was no longer important. Christians who quote Paul as an authority seem to think they have some mystical power backing up their claims.

Paul's claim in Titus that Jesus is the only real conduit to God's love is rather hollow. Paul attempts to discard works of individual righteousness in order to promote his doctrine of faith in a human sacrifice. Other New Testament writers stated that doing good works is directly correlated with reward from God.

John 5:27-29
And hath given him(Jesus) authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

And once again, Jesus exposes Paul's version of salvation as disingenuous and incomplete.

Matt 7:21 (Jesus speaking)
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Jesus claimed that doing the will of the Father is a key element to enter heaven. According to the Bible, what is the will of the Father?

Deut 10:12-13
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

The instruction is quite clear, unambiguous, and leaves no doubt as to what is required. Walk in all God's ways, which means keeping all of God's laws.

Naturally, Christians will claim that they no longer have to obey God's laws because Paul said they don't have to. It's no mystery why Paul and those Christians who follow him need to devalue good works as providing righteousness in God's eyes. If doing the good works of the law did provide righteousness, the need for Jesus would be greatly diminished.

If each man dies for his own sin and redeems himself through obedience to God's law as Ezek 18:20-28 states, Jesus is not needed in the salvation equation. The fact that comes to light here is that the Bible represents differing theologies and they don't simply agree with each other.

Christianity is an offshoot of Judaism and contrary to common Christian advertising, the Bible does not represent one long harmonious message from "God". The New Testament often can't even agree with itself as some of the examples in this essay demonstrate.

The following was supposed to have been written by King Solomon, who was alleged to have been the wisest man on earth.

Eccl 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

It's quite interesting how many Paul worshipping Christians will dismiss the Bible teachings which conflict with what they want to believe. They wrap themselves in a shroud of authority by quoting the apostate Paul, imagining him to be wiser than Solomon, or even Jesus himself.